Jeri Sasser

Evidence suggests bidirectional relations between stress, sleep, and depressive symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood. Less research has disaggregated within- and between-person variance in these associations over time or within Latino/a college students. This study examined longitudinal, within-person reciprocal relations between stress, sleep, and depressive symptoms among 181 Latino/a adolescents (M_age = 18.10; SD = 0.41, 35% male) transitioning to college. Participants were assessed in their senior year of high school and annually until their fourth year of college. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to parse out within- and between-person sources of variance. Results indicated overall (between-person) relations among depressive symptoms and school/college stress and sleep problems. There were reciprocal within-person links between stress and sleep problems across the first two years of college. Within-person increases in depressive symptoms during the second year of college predicted more stress than usual in the third year, which predicted increased depressive symptoms in the fourth year. More sleep problems than usual in the third year of college predicted higher stress in the fourth year. Findings provide evidence for within-person cross-lagged relations among various domains of adjustment during college and may inform future prevention efforts for incoming Latino/a college students targeting mental health and sleep problems.

Despite growing evidence that perceived discrimination negatively impacts underrepresented ethnic-racial college students, there is a lack of longitudinal studies with multiple sources of discrimination as Latinos transition from high school (HS) to college. This study examined changes in peer, adult, and everyday discrimination across the college transition and tested concurrent, prospective, and reciprocal associations between these sources of discrimination, internalizing symptoms, and grade point average (GPA). Latino adolescents (N = 209; M_age at Time 1 = 18.10; 64.4% female; 85.1% Mexican descent) reported on discrimination experiences and internalizing symptoms during their final year of high school and first college semester. Participants' GPA was obtained from institutional records. Longitudinal data were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models. Adult discrimination remained stable while peer and everyday discrimination decreased from high school to college. All sources of discrimination were concurrently associated with internalizing symptoms, but not GPA, in high school and college. There were positive bidirectional associations between everyday discrimination and internalizing symptoms across the college transition. Adult discrimination during high school predicted increased discrimination from adults and peers in college. First-generation college students reported higher everyday and peer discrimination in college. Latino students' experiences of everyday and ethnic-racial discrimination in school may be more closely tied to psychological rather than academic adjustment in the first semester of college. First-generation college students and those who experienced higher adult discrimination or internalizing symptoms in high school appear to be more susceptible to increased perceptions of discrimination during the college transition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Pubertal development has been separately linked to adolescents’ sleep problems and larger family functioning, but research connecting these inter-related processes remains sparse. This study aimed to examine how pubertal status and tempo were related to early adolescents’ sleep and their family functioning. Using longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study, the study’s sample (N = 4682) was 49.2% female, was an average of 9.94 years old at baseline, and was 60.1% white. Analyses in the current study modeled the indirect associations between pubertal change and changes in family conflict via adolescent sleep duration and variability of duration. The results suggested that pubertal status and tempo predicted shorter adolescent sleep durations and greater variability in those durations, which predicted residual increases in family conflict. The findings highlight the role of adolescents’ pubertal changes in their sleep and how such changes can negatively affect family functioning.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had important implications for college students' socioemotional and academic well-being. Sleep problems were common during this time, which may have further impacted well-being. Methods: Five hundred and fifty-two college students (M-age = 19.81; 58% female; 42% White) completed a survey in Fall 2021 reflecting on behaviors/emotions (sleep, depressive symptoms, loneliness, academic engagement) experienced during the first peak of COVID-19 and over the past month. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify subgroups of sleepers during peak-COVID in relation to well-being during and after the initial peak. Results: Four sleep profiles were identified: Optimal (49%), High Latency/Medicated (23%), Average/Fair (16%), Low-Duration (12%). During peak-COVID, depression and loneliness were highest in High Latency/Medicated and Low-Duration subgroups; academic engagement was highest for Optimal sleepers. Following peak-COVID, academic engagement was highest for Average/Fair sleepers. Conclusions: Findings highlight heterogeneity in students' sleep patterns during the initial peak of COVID-19 and their relation to well-being during and post-peak-pandemic.

Latino/a adolescents are increasingly represented in higher education. Whereas previous work suggests that positive aspects of the family can promote adjustment during the college transition, less is known regarding the longitudinal, reciprocal nature of these associations. The current study examined changes in parenting, family dynamics, and adjustment across the transition from high school to college among 207 Latino/a young adults (M_age = 18.10; 65.0% female identifying) in the Southwestern United States and investigated within- and between-person reciprocal relations using standard and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models. Participants self-reported on parental support, parental monitoring, family communication, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use during their senior year of high school (Time 1; spring/summer 2017), first semester of college (Time 2; fall 2017), and second semester of college (Time 3; spring/summer 2018). Parental support, family communication, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use increased across the initial transition from high school to college, whereas parental monitoring decreased across time. Reciprocal effects were largely between-person driven. Family communication in high school was concurrently and prospectively related to fewer depressive symptoms. Higher parental monitoring during the first semester of college was related to less alcohol use within and across semesters. In addition, students who experienced within-person increases in depressive symptoms during the first semester of college perceived less parental support than usual the next semester. Study findings point to the importance of developmental timing and further highlight the role that family plays during Latino/a students' transition to college. Implications for family-based prevention efforts are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Evidence suggests significant interrelations among parent and adolescent sleep (i.e., concordance). However, less is known regarding how parent-adolescent sleep concordance varies as a function of the family context. This study examined daily and average concordance between parent and adolescent sleep and explored adverse parenting and family functioning (e.g., cohesion, flexibility) as potential moderators. One hundred and twenty-four adolescents (M-age = 12.90) and their parents (93% mothers) wore actigraphy watches assessing sleep duration, efficiency, and midpoint across 1 week. Multilevel models indicated daily (within-family) concordance between parent and adolescent sleep duration and midpoint. Average (between-family) concordance was found for sleep midpoint only. Family flexibility was linked with greater daily concordance in sleep duration and midpoint, whereas adverse parenting predicted discordance in average sleep duration and efficiency.